NYC: New Law and Posters

Mayor Michael Bloomberg has something to celebrate: new mandatory minimum sentences for carrying an illegal and loaded weapon in New York. The mayorâ€™s message: carry an illegal, loaded weapon and be prepared to go to jail for three and a half years.

In a news conference this morning, Bloomberg and Citizens Crime Commission of New York City unveiled a new public service campaign to highlight the new penalties for illegal gun possession in New York. The campaign, GUNS=PRISON, will feature posters calling attention to the sentence. The notices will be displayed on donated space on phone kiosks, in buses and subways and in restaurants, bars, and nightclubs . . .

3.5 years for something that is legal almost eveywhere in the nation strikes me as unusual if not cruel . . .

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This is something that absolutely amazes me. If I walk down the street in Virginia without a permit and I am OCing, it's perfectly legal. Move that to GA under the same conditions and now it's not legal.

Have a permit and ride on a public form of transportation in California and I'm legal. Move that act to Georgia and now I'm hijacking the bus?

Walk down the street OCing in VA without a permit but take one step into MD and good luck not getting shot.

Carry to a public gathering openly in Virginia in violation of a local ordinance, and the police have to release you and drop the charges. Carry to a public gathering in Georgia, and, well, "Don't do the crime, if you can't do . . . "